US President's statements should be divided by five, if not ten - MEP Kalniete

RIGA - US President Donald Trump's dynamic statements at the end of last week should be divided by five, if not by ten, said MEP Sandra Kalniete (New Unity) in an interview on TV3 this morning.

She explained that in traditional politics, any announcement is made by national leaders after it has been carefully prepared and the legal, geopolitical and military aspects have been assessed. Meanwhile, the current US leadership is doing the opposite, Kalniete said.

"Something is shot out and then everyone close to it tries to discuss and figure out how it will be implemented. And because there are different factions within the circle of those close to Trump who are competing with each other, and he listens to everybody, it absolutely does not mean that what he says will actually happen," the MEP said.

Kalniete is under the impression that the US does not actually have a peace plan for Ukraine.

Referring to the upcoming meeting of US and Russian diplomats in Saudi Arabia today, Kalniete assessed that the unpredictability of US policy also makes it unclear how the meeting will end.

In her opinion, Trump wants to split the Russia-China duo because he is convinced that together with Russia he can weaken China. "It is illusory, as it tends to be, when people who have a rather incomplete knowledge of geopolitics imagine that they can move the pieces on a chessboard," said Kalniete.

As reported, top US and Russian diplomats will meet in Saudi Arabia today to discuss the restoration of relations between the two countries and the preliminary launch of efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.

Trump is seeking a quick solution to the three-year conflict in Ukraine, while Russia sees Trump's readiness for dialogue as an opportunity to gain concessions.

Meanwhile, Kyiv knows nothing about the talks in Riyadh, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, pointing out that Ukraine cannot recognize any agreement without its participation.

Zelensky said last week that he was ready to meet Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, but only after Kyiv and its allies had worked out a common position on ending the war.